Truly global new business hunter in a noisy open-plan office
Gut am Arbeitgeber finde ich
Very interesting job with almost the whole world to look for business. If you do reasonably well, they'll let you do your job and it's all up to you. Good commission. You have to be smart and very disciplined to succeed.
Schlecht am Arbeitgeber finde ich
The newcomers have difficult times finding large enough accounts to work on in Cogent's niche market which is already extremely well covered with Cogent reps. The seniority is a major factor in terms of top performers. The micromanagement has become less but still exists because you by design need to rotate a very large account base in order to be successful.
Verbesserungsvorschläge
Make more office room for sales reps. Improve sales training further.
Arbeitsatmosphäre
The HQ in USA radiates confidence and stability. The other sales reps in Frankfurt are nice.
Kommunikation
The CEO does regular phone Q&A's with news regarding the whole company. The support received in technical questions is excellent. Unfortunately the communication in sales-related matters is lacking in the most important topics and wastes time on less relevant things.
Kollegenzusammenhalt
The colleagues in sales supporting roles are very nice to work with. Other Frankfurt sales reps are nice and helpful too although in the end it's an individual job and there's no teamwork within the sales team. The competition for the best accounts sometimes creates nasty clashes with other sales teams.
Work-Life-Balance
This job could easily be done from a home office but it's not allowed, the office hours are strict. Apart from the office hours, everyone is free to do whatever they want. The top management says it's a 8-hour-per-day job. However there are much less vacation days than in average German companies.
Vorgesetztenverhalten
There are all kinds of bosses, many proactive ones with clear goals to help their subordinates to be successful and some lazy reactive ones who shy away from difficult or important stuff. Fortunately the C-level belongs the first category. The latter is just something you have to work around somehow.
Interessante Aufgaben
This is a very individual job and one where you really need to seize the initiative yourself. Cogent is a TOP3 provider in their own niche and the fact you can sell on five continents for competitive pricing makes this an excellent place for adventurous minds.
Gleichberechtigung
No gender discrimination here. It's a US company and they are careful if any such issues would pop up. About 50% of all sales reps are women anyway. There are also some female top managers.
Umgang mit älteren Kollegen
No issue but on the other hand not many old people would apply for this sales job and the headhunters also look for younger people.
Arbeitsbedingungen
Stingy top management means we work in an overcrowded open-plan office with a high noise level and no noise-cancelling headset. At least the computers and phones are just fine.
Umwelt-/Sozialbewusstsein
The company supports net neutrality which is great and does not resort to suspicious sales methods. The company does not waste money on company cars which are unnecessary for this kind of an office-based job.
Gehalt/Sozialleistungen
The base salary combined with a total lack of other benefits puts the base package on the very low end of international telecommunication companies. The OTE is handsome if you make the quota – which is extremely difficult if not impossible for newcomers.
Image
The employees are in general proud of the company because of its success story that goes on and on – slowly but surely. The image outside varies but is improving every month.
Karriere/Weiterbildung
The main method to advance is to make a higher percentage which should become easier the longer you stay while you may never beat the most senior reps. It is possible to advance to management by merits but there are not many positions to advance to.